The History of the Guitar

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The guitar is one of the most popular and versatile instruments in the world today. For centuries the instrument has changed, developed, and evolved into the guitar we know today. So what is the history of the guitar?

The guitar has a long history, going back hundreds of years, and in some ways is still shrouded in mystery. There is a consensus that the guitar may have been influenced by earlier instruments such as the Vihuela (15th century, see image 1) and even the Kithara (see image 2) of Ancient Greece but direct lineage is difficult to pin down. Just like many other instruments, the guitar changed and evolved over the years in various ways. 

Spain was a prominent country in the early stages of the guitar’s development. This early form of the guitar, known as the “renaissance guitar” (see image 3), was much different than the guitar we know today. The renaissance guitar was much smaller than the modern day guitar. This instrument had four pairs of strings called courses. When you fret a note you would actually be pressing down on two strings (1 course) at the same time. If you’ve ever played a modern day twelve string guitar, it’s just like that. In this time period, the guitar was mostly used for strumming chords. With it/s small size, four courses, and use case of strumming chords, the renaissance guitar was more similar to the modern day ukulele. 

During the Baroque Era (1600-1750), a fifth course was added to the guitar. This new model became known as the “baroque guitar” (see image 4). In the Baroque period, the guitar was often used in small chamber music settings. It’s use case was still just strumming chords to fill out the harmonies.

Around the year 1750, some major changes were made to the guitar. The pairs of strings (courses) were removed and replaced with six individual strings, just as we see on guitars today. This model of guitar was still smaller than the modern guitar. Today it is known as the “19th century guitar” (see image 5). During the 19th century there was a healthy number of guitarists composing for the instrument. Composers including, but not limited to, Dionisio Aguado, Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinand Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Luigi Legnani, Johann Kaspar Mertz, Giulio Regondi, and Napoleon Coste. You may not recognize these names as the usual “classical music” composers. That is because most of the big name composer’s we hear like Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, did not play the guitar themselves. Andres Segovia (1893-1987) once said “…the guitar is a really complicated instrument. Being the only string instrument that is really polyphonic, it is impossible to compose for if you don’t play it, and if you don’t play it well.” More on Segovia later.

Returning to the development in the construction of the guitar, in the mid 19th century, we saw the most influential luthier in the guitar’s history – Antonio de Torres (1817-1892). Torres spent his life building guitars (see image 6) and experimented with it’s design in aims to improve the sound. His main desire was to build a guitar with a larger sound and so he did a few things to achieve this:

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1) Bigger guitar – Torres built a larger scale size guitar, extending the scale to 65cm, which is still the scale size used for classical guitars today. 
2) Fan bracing – A bracing pattern refers to the wood inside the guitar that is behind the top and helps it resonate. Up until this point, many luthiers used a “ladder” bracing pattern (see image 7) where the braces are all stacked like rungs on a ladder. Torres designed the “fan bracing” pattern (see image 8) which helped the guitar reach new levels of volume and sound production. The fan bracing pattern is widely used by luthiers still today. 
3) Thin spruce top and paper mache back and sides – Torres’ theory was that the top of the guitar was what vibrated the most and therefore produced the most sound. The thin top made of spruce wood was chosen for this purpose while the back and sides were made from more durable materials. 
The next most important development for the guitar came in the 1940’s. Gut strings were replaced with nylon strings which sounded better and became easier to produce as time went on. 

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Around the turn of the century (1900), and throughout World War I and the Great Depression, there was a drying up of excitement surrounding the classical guitar. Composer’s were not composing for the instrument as much as in the 19th century, until Andres Segovia hit the scene. Segovia was the best guitar player of his generation and toured the world playing concerts including a concert at the Whitehouse in 1979. He is credited as being the man who single-handedly reignited the enthusiasm around classic guitar music. His performances reminded people all over the world of the beauty of the guitar repertoire and after his success and fame, Segovia began commissioning contemporary composers of the time to compose new works for the guitar. Some of these composers include Rodrigo, Ponce, Turrina, Torroba, Tansman, Villa-Lobos, and more. 

In the 21st century, luthiers are still experimenting to try to improve the sound quality of the guitar. There are countless types of bracing patterns that have been tried, different types of woods for the tops (usually spruce or cedar) and many different types of wood for the back and sides. An interesting development in professional models is the arm rest. This is a small piece attached to the top of the guitar where the right arm lays across. The theory is that the right arm resting directly on the top of the guitar would dampen some of the vibrations. The arm rest allows the player to comfortably rest their arm without touching the top at all! In addition to this, luthiers have experimented with other aspects of the guitar, for instance:

1) An elevated fingerboard – to make it easier for the player to reach higher positions, 2) A sound port – a small hole in the upper bout of the guitar which is meant to help the performer hear their guitar the way the audience does, and 3) Double-tops – literally two thin tops put together. There is a thin layer of nomex between the two tops, which looks like a thin layer of honeycomb. 

When you buy a classical guitar, you know it’s been built with love and care in the respective luthier’s workshop. Most luthiers usually come up with their own design for the headstock. These design patterns are cosmetic only and are known as the luthier’s “signature”. Luthiers continue to design and innovate their craft, surely promising many revelations to guitar construction in the years to come. 

Have a questions about how the guitar’s construction has effected performance practice and many composer’s treatment of music through the ages? Send it to Erich via email eriebe@youngmusicians.org he’s ready to share more! Read Erich’s Faculty Page here.